Xi-Kishida Expected To Reaffirm "Mutually Beneficial Relationship"

Yomiuri Shimbun reports that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to reaffirm a "mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests," during their first meeting in over a year at the APEC Summit in San Francisco, California today. The time of the meeting has yet to be confirmed.

• YS reports: "The aim [of talks] is to continue dialogue on matters such as security and China's suspension of imports of Japanese marine products, while advancing cooperation on common issues such as economic challenges and climate change."
• Kishida said yesterday, ahead of his departure for the US: "We will make mutual efforts to maintain constructive and stable relations between Japan and China. We will foster communication in various ways."
• Kishida is expected to press Xi on lifting a ban on Japanese seafood imports imposed over Chinese concerns over the safety of discharged water from the Fukashima nuclear facility. Asia News Network notes, "it is highly unlikely that China will comply."
• Xi is expected to express concerns over Japan's National Security Strategy, released last December, which identifies China's military developments as Tokyo's, "greatest strategic challenge."
• Xi will also likely raise concerns with increased trilateral military cooperation between the US and the Republic of Korea, which Beijing argues is laying the foundations for an "Asian NATO."